On alcoholism, the various forms of alcoholic delirium and their treatment / by V.Magnan ; translated by W. S. Greenfield.

  • Valentin Magnan
Date:
1876
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On alcoholism, the various forms of alcoholic delirium and their treatment / by V.Magnan ; translated by W. S. Greenfield. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    INTRODUCTION. Although for some years past, questions relating to the subject of alcoholism have enjoyed the privi- lege ot attracting general attention, recent events have sumciently proved that the united efforts of all, physicians, jihilosophers, and legislators, have not been any too great to oppose the urgent danger which threatens health, morality, and society. In the learned discussion which was raised in the Academy by M. Verneuil, on the serious character of traumatic lesions and surgical operations on al- coholized persons, MM. B6\iiev and Chauffard endeavoured to shew the physical and intel- lectual demoralization which those who are addicted to alcoholic liquors prepare for themselves, a de- moralization such that all pathological processes, whether spontaneous or traumatic in origin, present themselves under a peculiar aspect, and with charac- ters of special gravity. Both to surgeons and ])hysicians, tlie drunkard is an exceptional subject; he feels, suffers, and reacts in a manner different from other patients. When we regard alcoholic intoxication as a whole, we find that between the two extreme poles, that is to say, between the transient and fleeting symptoms of mere drunkenness, and the profound, permanent and irremediable disturbances of chronic alcoholism, there is a long period in which the patients eveil wlidst presenting the general characters of alcoholic delirium, offer differences of a nature sufficiently well-marked to demand a special grouping. In one class, in tact, there are delirium, trembling, and di- B